Improvement in flutes



UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

SAMUEL C. GOODSELL, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TC HIMSELF ANDBENNET HOTCHKISS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLUTES, Sao.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,022, dated September1I, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. GooDsELL, of' New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Flutes and Wind- Instruments; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the lettersof reference marked thereon, and which said drawings constitute part ofthis specilication, and represent, in-

Figure l, the lower part of' a flute; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of'the same; and in Figs. 3 and 4 the mechanical arrangement and operationot' the keys.

My invention consists in a mechanical arrangement of thekeys whereby Iam enabled to produce with ease and rapidity G sharp, B fiat, and Cnatural without the use of' the thumb and finger (fourth) of the lef'thand, both of which must be used in flutes of' coininon construction.

To enable others skilled in the art to better understand my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the same in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

E, F, and F sharp are skeleton keys, as seen in Fig. 3, the openings tobe closed by the first three fingers ot' the right-hand in similarmanner as in the common flute. G natural and G sharp are solid keys. Thekey G sharp is fixed to a beam or shaft hung in bearings a a, and theskeleton key F natural is fixed to the same shaft, so that by closingthe hole F natural the hole G sharp will also be closed, or, if only thehole G sharp is to be closed so as to produce G natural, press with thesecond finger upon the shank 2 of said F-natural key. This will leaveall holes below G sharp open and produce G natural.

I place a hollow tube over the shaft to which G sharp and F natural areattached, and to the said tube attach the G-natural key and F sharp andE natural skeletons. New, to produce F sharpthese explanations are madesupposing all the holes above G sharp closed-slide the three ngers backonto the shanks l, 2, and 3 of the skeleton keys. This opens the threeholes, but still retains the G natural and G sharp closed, and F sharpis produced. To produce G natural, raise the first and third fingers,holding down the second. This allows the key G natural to open. Raisethe three lingers and G sharp is produced as before. Thus the firstthree fingers only are used to produce ve notes, and without chan gingthein from their owu keys.

I arrange a double beam in the same inauner for the tive holes above,extending to and including C sharp. By this arrangement I ain notrequired to use the thumb and little finger ot' the left hand to produceG sharp, B flat, (A sharp,) or C natural, as in the ordinary finte orsimilar wind-instrument.

I-Iavin g therefore fully described my invention, what I claim as newand useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The within-described mechanical arrangement of the keys, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

SAMUEL C. GCODSELL.

I'Vitnesses Hormon C. Peck, J oHN E. EARLE.

